Wednesday 9 January 2013

Saving on Big Ticket Items - The Dresser

The latest on my list of BTI's was a dresser for my spare room.  I wanted to get it right away so that I could have the possibility of renting out one of my spare rooms to a colleague who will be working for my company for a few months.  I haven't heard anything back on that front yet, however it will get used since I plan on applying to be a respite foster parent.

I started, and ended my search at a furniture surplus store in town.  To be entirely honest the front of the store's prices were not all that much lower then, say waiting for a sale at a big box store.  Fortunately  the store also has a back area where they keep the scratched and dented furniture.  There were only two dressers in the section.  Both were rather nice looking, though not solid wood.  That said at the moment I am happy with a dresser that will get 10 years of good use and then can be down graded to a lighter task.

I was undecided weither to buy then and there or to shop around some more and see if I could find something better in another store.  Then I got talking to one of the sale's persons who noticed that the price on the dresser was lower then it was suppose to be.  He told me that he would honour that price if I decided to buy right away, but once I left the price would be corrected.  So I took the deal.  Instead of a regular price of $415 after tax I got it for $157 after tax, for a savings of 63%.  Not a bad buy considering the only thing wrong with it is a chip in the corner the size of a pea.


Lessons Learned

-Surplus stores have a slight markdown on prices but are not the cheapest way to go.  
-When it comes to the dented and scratched sections of a store you need to be patient and check regularly.  Often the selection is very small and there is no guarantee when new stock will come in or how much it will be marked down by.  
-Learn to be patient.  (I have trouble with this one.)  You need to take your time and look.  Preferably the scratch and dent section of a store should probably be one of a couple options that you are considering.  

On the bright side, my spare room is now fully furnished.



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